Boycott, Divest, Sanction
These are ways we can use our collective power against powerful interests
Activists have always used tactics of boycotting and urging institutions to divest and governments to sanction. There is a Palestinian-led movemend called BDS (for boycott, divest, sanction) that is leading boycotts of companies who support Israel in their war against Gaza.
You may have read about the current boycott of McDonald’s and Starbucks with relation to the war on Gaza and Israel’s escalating war crimes. Starbucks claims to have lost $11 billion from boycotts from pro-Palestinian movements despite the fact that they were not officially on the BDS list. They are, however, being boycotted for making their workers union take down a tweet stating they stand with Palestine. McDonald’s is on the BDS list for supporting Israel.
It’s hard for me to boycott things like this because I don’t often spend money at large retailers. I see that HP is on their list, so I hope my laptop doesn’t crap out any time soon because I do normally buy HPs. But I rarely patronize a Starbucks or McDonalds. Funny enough, I actually did get to boycott McDonalds on Friday, though, because I was on a road trip with a friend and wanted some coffee. I was like, “Oh, there’s a McDonald’s. They have decent coffee.” But then I remembered and got coffee at Wawa instead.
The only other thing I would possibly buy is Sabra hummus, but I haven’t in years so probably was not going to soon.
Divestment is used a lot in environmental activism campaigns. We often get big institutions, including universities, to agree to divest from fossil fuel companies. Right now, students are getting some colleges to divest from Israeli companies and those who support the current genocide with money or products.
Boycott Wix
Another company being boycotted is Wix, an Israeli platform that is historically known for its free web building service. Wix is a billion dollar company that likely relies on some of the billions of dollars sent to Israel each year by the United States. Someone has built a web page to talk about why to boycott Wix, but mostly it’s because giving them money supports the current violence against Palestinians. As a web developer, I have never used Wix because it’s generally for people who build their own website. But I did post the information about the boycott for my Facebook friends to see in case they are inclined to avoid or stop using it.
🧿 Life Observations
The Cost of Honey
I've been buying honey from the same vendor at the Saturday Morning Market for about 9 years. I buy it in a 40 oz container because I use it often. My first honey there cost $19, and now the same container of honey is $27. That's a 42% increase. I was talking to the honey dealer about this because I had thought last time I got it it was $25. He must've felt bad for me because he sold it to me for $25 after our conversation. I would've bought it anyway, and it lasts me for probably a month, but $27 still stings.
Manatees
I played hookie on Friday morning to go to Crystal River, FL to see the large number of manatees who are hunkering down there due to the chilly weather.
There were hundreds of them, including babies. They moved very little and could easily be mistaken for boulders. The area was completely silent except when they surfaced for air, and you could hear their raspy breathing. It was quite an experience.
Cross stitch
Here is the latest update on my tatreez pattern. She's coming along!
Stitching this has been very meditative, and I will never forget the process of making it during the wholesale slaughter of the Palestinian people. A friend is considering having an event to benefit Palestinians, and I want to offer to teach a workshop about the history of tatreez. I would also create a small pattern for participants to stitch during the workshop.
I’m also anxious to start other cross stitch projects. I’m hooked! I’m truly under the spell, especially since I have an online community now. I purchased a few small patterns yesterday so I can have some “finishes” while I’m working on larger projects.
One thing that is absolutely nuts is the amount of time these projects actually take, even if you work on them for hours a day. This was posted in one of my cross stitch groups.
This stitching took her 165 hours. One six five. This is 11% of the full pattern, and if she works on it several hours a day, she'll finish in June of 2025. 😲
I told her that no one can ever accuse her of having a fear of commitment.
The tatreez pattern is the biggest I've ever done. The next two are about the same size. I don't know if I'll ever desire to do a really huge one, but who knows. I honestly don't know what you would do with something that big when you're done making it.
Collage
I had a tremendous amount of fun with this month's collage postcards to my paid subscribers. I started with images from a calendar and added illustrations cut out of old books. On one, I added a little cross stitch bird.
Book
I might actually pull off this book first draft by my birthday. I'm super happy with the direction it's taken, and I'm excited about commissioning some illustrations for it.
The software I'm using to lay out the pages (OfficeSuite) is proving a bit quirky, but I'm plodding along with it because it's accessible from both my tablet and my laptop.
The process of writing this book is actually helping me to practice what I preach. After working on a section, I'll then be doing something that reminds me to put into practice what I'm writing about. For instance, after writing the section titled “Spread Joy to Others”, I had put a few snarky, negative cross stitch patterns in my shopping cart, and I decided to take them out and replace them with things that were more positive.
This book is effective!
⏰️ Currently
📚 Looking at a stack of books that have been taking a back seat to cross stitch
🪖 Wondering how many more war crimes we're going to let Israel commit
🍀 Feeling thankful for all the positive things in my life (not the least of which is my still reasonable rent)
Thanks for talking about BDS. It's one thing we can all do right now to support Palestine.